Charlie's Place: The Saga of an American Frontier Homestead

Charlie's Place is the story of an Oklahoma homestead, settled during the Land Rush, lost during the Great Depression and restored seven decades later. It is an American tale of pioneering, loss and restoration. The narrative revolves around two memorable figures, Charlie Hasbrook and his grand-daughter, Nadiene Malone. The book follows the events that led Hasbrook to ride in the Land Rush - including three violent murders in Kansas and Oregon; then continues with desperate years on the Homestead continuing through the decades of prosperity that followed. Losing the farm to an unscrupulous banker during the Depression, teenaged Nadiene made an oath to regain the farm for her family. The last section of the book swings from Silicon Valley to New York City, to the lonely, long-abandoned Hasbrook Homestead, as Malone and her children race to save the farm buildings before they collapse from years of neglect. In the end, at nearly ninety years of age, she fulfills her promise.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Jigsaw Puzzle of the Past; Mainly About the Campbells & the Browns; Mainly About the Harrops; Despair & Hope in Hokitika & Waitaki; Mainly About the Hoggs, the Olivers & the Jefcoates; Mainly About the Valentines & the Maxwells; The Headmaster's Daughter; Choosing Partners; Remembering, Not Forgetting, New Zealand; A Strenuous Pair; Out of Harm's Way; The Last Lap; Afternote.

Review :
"From skeletons in his family's closet, Michael Malone has fashioned a fascinating, touching, page-turner narrative of murder, jealousy, and hardscrabble survival in the Old West. A really wonderful book."-- Ron Hansen, Author, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford "Wow. . . it turns out that Silicon Valley's top writer is also one of America's top historians. Charlie's Place starts with a literal bang-- the gunshot start of the Oklahoma Land Rush -- and grippingly tells the story of a family's dreams and courage, lost and restored. The book is an inspiration, a jewel." --Rich Karlgaard, Publisher Forbes "This is a beautiful and riveting adventure story that conveys a century of American history, from the Oklahoma land rush to the digital revolution, in a most personal way. It's a tale of murderers and greedy bankers and stubborn farmers and an indomitable woman--all astonishingly more real than our usual stereotypes. But most of all it is about the relationship between a farm and a family and what that teaches us about America, honor, and the historic connections that can make life meaningful. This book could transform your life." --Walter Isaacson